How to take your next job interview (and your career) to the next level

It’s not enough to be good at your job. If you want access to all of the possibilities that are available to you, you need to be good at expressing how good you are at your job.

I see this a lot in people who are more advanced in their careers, have achieved a level of excellence in their fields, but aren’t getting the recognition they deserve, and maybe are getting passed over for jobs or promotions that would be perfect for them - just because they struggle to communicate the value they bring to the table.

So this one’s for you, mid-career Superstar. Next time you’re being interviewed for a brilliant opportunity, try these tips and watch how they change the dynamic.

1. Know who you’re interviewing - and their background

Job hunting 101 says you should find out the names and titles of your interviewers in advance. But when you’re interviewing at a higher level you need to take this to a higher level, because you need to know whether and how to adapt your communication to their interests and level of expertise.

Are you speaking with a fellow expert in your field? Or someone who plays a different role at the organization - maybe management or human resources?

If they’re not subject matter experts, how long have they been working adjacent to your field of expertise, and how familiar can you expect them to be with the concepts and the jargon?

You want to make sure that everyone in that meeting feels included and feels a connection with you, because that’s what’s going to leave them with a positive impression. So you’re looking to walk that line where you’re meeting your interviewers where they are, while also showcasing your advanced knowledge of the subject.

Let’s say you’re an engineer, and you’re being interviewed by a fellow engineer and a senior manager. You’re probably going to feel more comfortable speaking with the engineer, but you need to try and give them equal attention and avoid language that will exclude the manager.

Look for clues to how advanced the manager’s knowledge is. If they’ve been working in the same industry for 20 years, they’re probably quite comfortable with the jargon; if they’ve recently come from a very different company, they might still be learning the ropes, so be sensitive to that. If, in your interview, they’re using technical terms, you can assume that they have a decent grasp of the technical aspects; if they joke about not understanding it, that’s your cue to simplify.

Using plain language is appreciated by most people, most of the time; but if you’re asked a technical question, go ahead and give a technical answer. That’s their way of making sure that you really know what you’re talking about.

2. Focus on outcomes

It’s an honourable thing to value knowledge for its own sake. But when it comes to people who are thinking about giving you large sums of money, they’re less interested in what’s inside your head than in the tangible value that your knowledge will bring to their organization. 

You can have all the expertise in the world, but if you can’t demonstrate that you’ll deliver results, they’ll have no motivation to hire you. This is especially true if you’re being interviewed by owners or managers. Their responsibility is to deliver profitability and growth, and they’ll be looking to you to make that job easier for them. How are you going to reassure them that you’ll do that?

Talk to them about concrete outcomes you’ve achieved from the work you’ve done in the past: how you improved the efficiency of a process, increased employee satisfaction and retention, raised the profitability of your team’s product or service, how you gained positive international attention for your last organization and so on.

Remember, specific is terrific. If you have facts and figures to back up your claim, even better. Telling someone that you increased revenues at your last job is good; telling them that you increased revenues by 50% year-over-year for 3 years is GOLD, because they can picture what that would mean for them - and they want it. They want it BAD.

3. Leave your baggage at the door

By this stage in your life, you’ve been through some stuff. You’ve probably had at least one terrible boss, run a project that failed spectacularly, and picked up the slack for a co-worker or two who didn’t pull their own weight.

Your stories about overcoming adversity can be powerful in showing why you’re the right person for the job. BUT you need to be so careful when you tell them. You don’t want to come across as a complainer or as someone who doesn’t take responsibility for your own problems. Framing makes all the difference between a story that inspires and casts you in a good light, and one that leaves a bad impression of you.

By “framing,” I mean the angle from which you approach the story and the information you choose to include, highlight, and leave out.

The first thing you need to do is let go of any sense of “poor me”. When you’ve been wronged by a co-worker, take it to a coffee shop with your best friend and moan about how unfair it all is; how your job is a toilet and your boss is the chief turd. Your friend will believe every word and offer sympathy, because that’s what friends do. But when you’re meeting someone new in the context of a job interview, they’re going to hear that story and worry that (a) you’re someone who can’t take responsibility for your own mistakes; and (b) if things go sour, you might be badmouthing them sometime in the future.

Your best bet is to frame things in terms of 

• Scenarios and relationships, instead of people; and

• Lessons learned about yourself and your preferred working/leadership style.

Instead of “I had a terrible boss,” try “I had a challenging relationship with my boss”. 

Intuitively, this can feel a bit like you’re implying that you’re difficult and can’t get along with others. But here’s the thing: Think about the people you know who blame others for their problems. How often are they the source of their own misfortune? What assumptions would you make about someone if, the first time you met them, they started complaining about a former colleague? The interviewers don’t know you very well. They don’t know Chief Turd, and they don’t know if you’re a reliable narrator. You might be tempted to distance yourself from the bad behaviour in that relationship, but that can actually backfire by making you sound petty and defensive. 

We’ve all had challenging relationships with co-workers. People get that. And by acknowledging that you were part of that relationship, rather than positioning yourself as a victim of it - even if that is the case - you come across as mature, self-aware and proactive. And if you’re conveying a friendly, reasonable vibe during the interview, people are likely to give you the benefit of the doubt and trust that you weren’t the toxic person in that relationship.

Then, you need to wrap that story up with a clear lesson that illustrates how you approach your work. Maybe, as a result of that challenging work relationship, you gained some insights about effective leadership and you make sure to do certain specific things in all of your work relationships since then. Or maybe that disastrous project was plagued by miscommunication, and it prompted you to develop a system for sharing information or raising concerns, and since you started implementing that system you’ve had lots of success.

Telling stories about the past is a great way to illustrate the value of your experience. It’s much, much  better than just vague statements about your personal qualities and skills. The key is to frame those stories in a positive, forward-looking way that highlights how you handle difficult situations by taking control of the things that you can. That’s how you show yourself in the best light.

Oh and one last thing: make sure you think about and practice these stories ahead of time. They’re probably loaded with emotion that can drag you down into negativity if you don’t sit down and really think about how to present them in a way that reflects well on you. So do that. Sit down and think about it!

Follow these 3 tips and you’ll be way ahead of other candidates who don’t! Plus: if you’re looking for 1-on-1 support to prepare for your big interview, book a meeting to see how Stage Light Communications can help.